Russia’s Proton-M Rocket conducted its first launch of the year Wednesday night, successfully lifting the Eutelsat 9B spacecraft to Geostationary Transfer Orbit in a flight lasting nine hours and 12 minutes.

A Russian Proton rocket raced into the night skies over the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Friday, embarking on a long overnight mission to deliver the Eutelsat 9B communications satellite to Geostationary Transfer Orbit.

Russia’s Proton-M rocket is set to open a busy year of launches from Russian Cosmodromes on Friday, lifting the Eutelsat 9B communications satellite to Geostationary Transfer Orbit in a mission lasting nine hours and 12 minutes.

Commercial Satellite operator Eutelsat has signed a multi-launch agreement with International Launch Services, acquiring slots on Proton rockets for the period of 2016 to 2023, and signed with Arianespace for a rare single-payload launch atop the powerful Ariane 5 rocket in early 2016.